A woman walks into a Chipotle restaurant in Washington on January 31, 2014. Feisty restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill bucked the tide of lethargic holiday sales, helped by a widely-seen video that mocked factory farming to highlight its emphasis on healthy ingredients. Chipotle, which describes its mission as "changing the way people think about and eat fast food", notched a 9.3 percent increase in comparable sales for the fourth quarter. Those higher sales, which contrasted with flat or declining results at other restaurant chains, helped counteract the rising costs of avocados, a key ingredient on its menus, and some other supplies, leading to higher profits and a higher forecast for 2014 sales. Net income was $79.6 million, up nearly 30 percent from a year ago, on a 20 percent rise in revenues to $844.1 million. Earnings bested analyst expectations for profits of $78.7 million. Full year earnings were $327.4 million on revenues of $3.2 billion, up $278 million on revenues of $2.7 billion. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

“The sky is not falling,” said Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold, dismissing national media reports that the company was about to strip the green dip from its offerings.

The California drought has triggered poor yields on multiple crops — in particular, the avocados used to make guacamole, a big seller for the restaurant chain.

“In the event of cost increases with respect to one or more of our raw ingredients, we may choose to temporarily suspend serving menu items, such as guacamole or one or more of our salsas, rather than paying the increased cost for the ingredients,” the company warned in its 10-K filing last month.

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That statement remained buried deep in the filing until ThinkProgress, a liberal blog, picked up the item, highlighting the link between shifting weather patterns, climate change and the loss of guacamole. Media outlets across the country dived into the story.

Arnold, however, said the “risk factor” note in the annual report is nothing more than a routine and required financial disclosure.

“We’ve had similar notes in our annual reports for years,” he said.

Weather issues have caused the company to pay higher prices for avocados in the past, but Arnold emphasized Chipotle has “never stopped serving our guacamole.”

California avocado growers are expected to harvest 210 million pounds this year, down by about a third from 2008 and the lowest yield since 1990, reports QSR Magazine.

Sources quoted by the magazine warn that the price for a box of California avocados could rise this spring to as high as $45 from $26, and that producers may limit their distribution to the West Coast.

Chipotle has a policy of buying products that come from within 350 miles of its restaurants. But it uses a more flexible approach to avocados, which grow in limited regions, Arnold said.

“In the summer, they come from California, then move to Mexico in the fall and Chile in the winter,” Arnold said.

Mexican producers are pushing hard to fill the gap, but there is a window in June and July when avocados may prove to be in especially short supply. Chipotle noted in its 10-K that food and packaging costs, which were 32.6 percent of revenues in 2012, rose to 33.4 percent in 2013.